Fwd: Fw: Proposed Bill 602P

[Lisa Brennan-Webb <lisarowan@yahoo.com>]

Poster: Lisa Brennan-Webb <lisarowan@yahoo.com>

Good gentles, I apologize for the OOP nature of this
post- if such offends you, pray delete now...
This posting alarmed me as I fear it would endanger
the very list I post it upon, as well as all of our
other e-communications, and hopefully we can band
together to do something about this...Elspeth of
Harilow, Barony of Marinus                            


> Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 08:18:03 -0500
> Subject: Fw:  Proposed Bill 602P
> 
> 
> > ---------------------
> > > << Dear Internet Subscriber:
> > >  > >
> > >  > >    Please read the following carefully if
> you intend to
> > >  > >    stay online and continue using email:
> The last few
> > >  > >    months have revealed an alarming trend
> in the
> > >  > >    Government of the United States
> attempting to quietly
> > >  > >    push through legislation that will
> affect your use of
> > >  > >    the Internet. Under proposed legislation
> the U.S.
> > >  > >    Postal Service will be attempting to
> bilk email users
> > >  > >    out of "alternate postage fees". Bill
> 602P will permit
> > >  > >    the Federal Govt to charge a 5 cent
> surcharge on
> > >  > >    every email delivered, by billing
> Internet Service
> > >  > >    Providers at source. The consumer would
> then be
> > >  > >    billed in turn by the ISP. Washington
> D.C. lawyer
> > >  > >    Richard Stepp is
> > >  > >    working without pay to prevent this
> legislation from
> > >  > >    becoming law. The U.S. Postal Service is
> claiming that
> > >  > >    lost revenue due to the proliferation of
> email is
> > >  > >    costing nearly $230,000,000 in revenue
> per year. You
> > >  > >    may have noticed their recent ad
> campaign "There is
> > >  > >    nothing like a letter". Since the
> average citizen
> > >  > >    received about 10 pieces of email per
> day in 1998, the
> > >  > >    cost to the typical individual would be
> an additional
> > >  > >    50 cents per day, or over $180 dollars
> per year, above
> > >  > >    and beyond their regular Internet costs.
> Note that
> > >  > >    this would be money paid directly to the
> U.S. Postal
> > >  > >    Service for a service they do not even
> provide. The
> > >  > >    whole point of the Internet is democracy
> and
> > >  > >    non-interference. If the federal
> government is
> > >  > >    permitted to tamper with our
> > >  > >    liberties by adding a surcharge to
> email, who knows
> > >  > >    where it will end. You are already
> paying an
> > >  > >    exorbitant price for snail mail because
> of bureacratic
> > >  > >    efficiency. It currently takes up to 6
> days for a
> > >  > >    letter to be
> > >  > >    delivered from New York to Buffalo. If
> the U.S. Postal
> > >  > >    Service is allowed to tinker with email,
> it will mark
> > >  > >    the end of the "free" Internet in the
> United States.
> > >  > >    One congressman, Tony Schnell (r) has
> even suggested a
> > >  > >    "twenty to forty dollar per month
> surcharge on all
> > >  > >    Internet service" above and beyond the
> government's
> > >  > >    proposed email charges. Note that most
> of the major
> > >  > >    newspapers have ignored the story, the
> only exception
> > >  > >    being the Washingtonian which called the
> idea of email
> > >  > >    surcharge "a useful concept who's time
> has come"
> > >  > >    March 6th 1999 Editorial) Don't sit by
> and watch your
> > >  > >    freedoms erode away!
> > >  > >
> > >  > >    Send this email to all Americans on your
> list and tell
> > >  > >    your friends and relatives to write to
> their
> > >  > >    congressman and say "No!" to Bill 602P.
> > >  > >
> > >  > >    Kate Turner Assistant to Richard Stepp,
> Berger, Stepp and
> > >  > > Gorman
> > >  > >    Attorneys at Law 216 Concorde Street,
> Vienna, Va.
> > >  >  >>
> > >
> > >
> > > -----------------
> > > Forwarded Message:
> > >
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

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